Toulantis Named BN.com CEO
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 2/11/2002
Nearly two years after Jonathan Bulkeley resigned as CEO of Barnes & Noble.com, the company has appointed Marie Toulantis to the position. Steve Riggio, vice-chairman of BN.com and parent company Barnes & Noble Inc., had been serving as acting CEO.
Toulantis moved over to the e-retailer from B&N Inc. in 1999 as chief financial officer and oversaw BN.com's public offering. She was named president and chief operating officer last May. Toulantis, who had reported to Riggio, will now report directly to the BN.com board.
Toulantis told PW she was pleased with the company's results for 2001, in which sales rose and losses fell (News, Feb. 4). The company is "well positioned" to have a good 2002, Toulantis said, and hinted that more initiatives with the bricks-and-mortar stores are in the works. She also expects the e-retailer to achieve profitability "within a year; if not in the fourth quarter then early next year."
